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Whither the Snowbirds?


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Will most of them flock back here?  Or will this year be a wait-and-see for a vaccine?  

Anecdotally, on my walks around Ajijic I see a lot of vacant rentals for this time of year.  Same when I pass by Rental Offices, lots more available seasonal listings in their windows than normal.  https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/mexico-hopes-us-canadian-visitors-will-reactivate-tourism/

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Authorities are counting on tourists from the United States and Canada in the coming months to reactivate the sector, which has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a joint press conference Wednesday night with Deputy Health Minister and coronavirus point man Hugo López-Gatell, Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco noted that vacationers from the U.S. and Canada make up 66.4% of all visitors to Mexico, whose proximity makes the country a prime destination. 

He said the coronavirus pandemic has changed the way people look at travel. Tourists are reevaluating travel plans and opting for destinations that can be reached by flights of no longer than 4 1/2 hours, which could make Mexico a prime vacation spot.

While tourism in 2020 is down by around 50%, that could change before the end of the year as travelers weary of lockdown and looking to escape the colder months turn their attention south. 

“There could be a pretty interesting rally, especially as Canadians have their winter season from late October to mid-April,” Torruco said.

Last year Mexico welcomed 19.6 million international tourists, and projections for 2020 see that number dropping to 6.8 million. Torruco reports that 86% of tourists visit six destinations — Cancún, Mexico City, Playa del Carmen, Los Cabos, Nuevo Vallarta and Puerto Vallarta in order of popularity.

 

 

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Travelers have to wear masks at all times whilst inside the airport and of course aboard aircraft. They risk contracting a disease with no cure that medical science knows little about ( as yet). So it's not surprising, but very disappointing. I had hoped to visit but just too risky at this point. It's even more disappointing for the local merchants whose livlihood depends on the NOB tourists.

 

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Local merchants and artisans and many other people are suffering whether the NOB visitors come or not. The situation throughout Mexico is pretty bad...and people should protect themselves with masks all over and they are not so it will continue until people get smart about it.. That is life..

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Tourism is a big chunk of income for Mexico. Last week I was in Barra De Navidad and I was the only guess the entire week at a 40 plus room hotel and pretty much the only customer in the various restaurants I ate at. I am guessing that if this does not improve that there will be an up kick in crime.

On a different note, sadly I have quite a bit of pesos invested with Bancomer Banco Patrimonial. I am now starting to look for foreclosed properties near Guadalajara as if the system collapses at least I will have more then just "wall paper". ☺️

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2 hours ago, CalgaryBoy said:

All the people I have talked to are not coming. One of the main reasons besides the virus itself is they are unable to get health insurance.

From what I’ve been reading quite a few Insurance companies are now offering health ins which includes Covid19. The courts overturned the Ontario government’s attempt to stop paying claims for out of country emergency health care. Many of the airlines Air Canada and Westjet Included are including Covid19 coverage when you purchase a ticket. Many if not most of the Canadians I know are returning, one of the reasons being is that the infection rates in many parts of Canada are far higher than here at Lakeside..

 

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On 10/2/2020 at 9:56 PM, RickS said:

Just a question....  if one country is testing a lot and another one barely at all, would that not affect the reported infection cases?

It probably would. However, that is not the only statistic to watch. Hospitalization utilization and deaths from covid-19 are probably a better indicator of what is going on than reported infections, given the disparity in testing. 

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13 hours ago, cookj5 said:

It probably would. However, that is not the only statistic to watch. Hospitalization utilization and deaths from covid-19 are probably a better indicator of what is going on than reported infections, given the disparity in testing. 

Following along with that supposition.... and using the US and Mexico as our players..... does the 'average' Mexican visit a hospital/emergency room with the same regularity as we do in the US?  And do we have a sense of how Mexican authorities 'classify' a death as to cause as do their NOB brethren, especially these days?

 

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Good article here from Sept. 27, 2020.  Rather pathetic excuses by MX top officials

 https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-mexico-health-pandemics-archive-0e71b9071708934d1f0c3811b76db178

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 Mexico’s top coronavirus official said Sunday that definitive data on the country’s death toll from COVID-19 won’t be available for “a couple of years.”

The statement by Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell is likely to revive debate about Mexico’s death toll, currently at 76,430, the fourth-highest in the world.

“When will the final statistics on deaths from COVID-19 be ready? Certainly, a couple of years after the first year of the pandemic,” López-Gatell said, adding that work would be left to the country’s statistics institute.

Officials have acknowledged in the past that the figure is a significant undercount, because it includes only those who died after a positive test result, almost always at a hospital. Mexico does very little testing, and many people die without a test.

But the Mexican government has avoided adjusting its death toll upward to account for people who died at home or weren’t tested.

Some parts of the country like Mexico City have begun conducting their own recalculations, finding “excess deaths” likely caused by coronavirus were at least double official figures.

The issue is a significant one in Mexico, because President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has frequently compared Mexico’s death rates to those of other countries in a bid to convince the public that his administration isn’t doing a bad job at handling the pandemic. But many other countries have attempted to adjust official figures to account for spikes in deaths that coincide with virus outbreaks.

But López-Gatell placed in doubt Sunday whether the figure was important or whether it could really be measured.

He described the definitive death toll as “one of these technical details” and said the pandemic “cannot be measured.”

 

 

 

 

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The statistic here are a joke..  I just read an article  about Tuxtla Gutierrez and its lack of space in the cimetery..They burry or cremate  an average of 125 people a month in Tuxtla.. In March they had 125 burial, in April 150 in May 580 and in June over 500    I would love to know what it was in August.. they say it went down but did not give number as they had made some room by kicking out the people who did not pay rent any longer and had buil some type of condominium for the dead... but that kind of figures show that the figures from the covid death from the government are way out of line compare to reality.. They never talked about a 300% increase in death in May and June.. so judge for yourselves...

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On 10/1/2020 at 4:51 PM, Bisbee Gal said:

Will most of them flock back here?  Or will this year be a wait-and-see for a vaccine?  

Anecdotally, on my walks around Ajijic I see a lot of vacant rentals for this time of year.  Same when I pass by Rental Offices, lots more available seasonal listings in their windows than normal.  https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/mexico-hopes-us-canadian-visitors-will-reactivate-tourism/

 

The Canadian snowbirds will come, better here than stuck in the snow, US citizens have choices within the USA they might use those choices instead of Mexico.

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16 hours ago, joco69 said:

The Canadian snowbirds will come, better here than stuck in the snow, US citizens have choices within the USA they might use those choices instead of Mexico.

None of the Canadian snowbirds I know are coming. They all tell me they feel safer in Canada than in Mexico where testing is minimal and accurate case counts and deaths are really not known.

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So far, it seems that most of the infections in Canada have come from meetings indoors, where people were close for extended periods and not wearing masks (bars, partys, restaurants). 

It seems to me that in Mexico, where all of our gatherings are outdoors, the risk would be much less.

Flying I am unsure of, though the airlines are really doing everything to minimise risks.

 

Pete

 

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On 10/2/2020 at 2:06 PM, TelsZ4 said:

one of the reasons being is that the infection rates in many parts of Canada are far higher than here at Lakeside..

In what parts of Canada is the infection rate higher than Lakeside? The only way your statement would be valid is if you compared the infection rate for a place in Canada with a similar population to the Lakeside area.

And you do realize that if a Tapatio who has a weekend home Lakeside tests positive when they are back in Guadalajara, their case will be counted in Guad, not Lakeside?

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On 10/2/2020 at 1:06 PM, TelsZ4 said:

SNIP..................

Many if not most of the Canadians I know are returning.....

 

This compares to info from a friend of a friend who suggests that 17 of her BC Canada friends who normally come to Lakeside in the winter will NOT be coming this year due to Covid.

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On 10/4/2020 at 7:30 PM, joco69 said:

The Canadian snowbirds will come, better here than stuck in the snow, US citizens have choices within the USA they might use those choices instead of Mexico.

I am will you bet you a lunch that at lest 50% of the Canadian will not, repeat not be returning, ones I have spoken with have said no not this year...as bad as the winters maybe , common sense prevails

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I'm coming back lakeside as soon as I  can get my corona virus Vaccine, which Trump says will be out before the election which is about the 3rd of Nov.

I hope that it may be as soon is by the end of this year and not next year.  The one good thing is about being 75 and above is that we are on the top of the priority list for the vaccine along with hospital workers.

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